Board of directors

Being a swedish company, we are required to have a board of directors. In most companies, the board is appointed by the owners to represent them so that the management group, headed by the CEO, runs the company according to the directives from the owners and the board.

At Crisp, this works a little differently. First of all, we invite all Crispers to become owners after 2 years, and second, we hold a yearly election of the board members where all Crispers (owners or not) have the right to vote. Since we have gotten rid of the CEO role, and since we have very autonomous consultants, there is really quite little to manage.

What does the board do?

The board have monthly board meetings. The most important responsibilities are to make sure the financial aspect of Crisp is OK and that the Crispers and the office team are happy. The meetings are open for any Crispers to attend if they wish.

Managing the finances involves keeping an eye on the liquidity to be able to do day-to-day business and to aim for a zero result at the end of the fiscal year. See Economic Model for details.

If there is any Crisper with a low score on Happiness Index, a board members takes it upon themselves to call that person and to try and find out what can be done to make the Crisper happier.

This is the template for our monthly board meetings.

1. Election of meeting secretary, chairman and attestant
2. Schedule next meeting
3. Information round
4. Walk-through of previous protocol and action points
5. Walk-through of economy
6. Walk-through of Happiness Index
   • The board creates action points to call any Crispers that have a low score on Happiness Index.
7. Important calendar events
8. Are there any blockers for the office?
9. Free topics
   • Topic suggestions on post-it notes
   • Prioritization
   • Work through the topics

How does the election of the board work?

The election is held at the Crisp Unconference during the fall.

During the conference, Crispers that volunteer to run for the board of directors put their name up for consideration on a dedicated wall somewhere. Often, there is some flattering going on to encourage people to volunteer.

At the election time, all Crispers sit in a great big circle and reflect upon what names we have to consider for the election. The candidates often offer their reason for wanting to work on the board.

We then elect one person at the time into the board. We do this to be able to adjust our votes to be able to build the best board possible. Each person anonymously writes a name on a paper note and put it in a basket in the middle. When all have voted, 2-3 people count the votes in front of everyone. The winner is announced without further ado and then we repeat until we have a full board of 3 members and one deputy member.